Into The Mist
by Hephaestus01
Summary: Life As We Know It sequel. Angel and Buffy have children, happiness and, most of the time, peace. Their lives wouldn't be complete, though, without unexpected danger and drama. How do they and their children deal with their Callings?
1. Chapter 1

Back by popular demand! Okay, this will only be a few chapters, nothing as long as the previous stories. I hope to update within the next week. I hope you guys like this glimpse into the future. Remember, I will beg for reviews if I need to!

Chapter 1

Using an Aikido throw to toss his opponent over his shoulder, Brady twirled around in time to see Allie land on her feet and bounce into the air. For a girl with no physical powers, she was pretty good in the ring. Dodging a kick to his ribs, he grabbed her leg and twisted it, sending her spinning in the air.

Landing hard, the air sucked itself from her body before she could get up. It took a moment for her breath to return. "I give! I give, already!"

"Yeah, I figured as much."

The flying throwing stars that twirled past his ear made Brady yelp. "We said no magic!"

"Well just remember that I can kick your ass no matter how strong you are! I don't need to move a muscle to beat you!" Standing with her arms crossed across her chest, she smiled. There were no adult around to hear her language.

Sighing, he started to the benches on the far side of the room to grab a towel. Allie's powers had grown since she had turned thirteen. It had seemed when she was a little girl that she would be the one human in the group of children. As puberty approached, though, her powers had grown exponentially. Her dad had promised her as soon as school let out that she would go to see Willow to train with her.

Slinging the towel around his neck, Brady frowned when Ronny and Kitty opened the door to the gym.

"Mom says we have to get cleaned up for dinner."

His sister was still the dumbest girl he had ever met. She annoyed him, on purpose, every chance she got. Or so he thought.

"We'll be in soon."

"Mom said now."

"I heard you!" Throwing the towel in her direction, he was more incensed when she didn't even cock an eyebrow.

Ronny's face remained placid. Kitty, on the other hand, threw the towel back but with more force. Turning on her heel, Kitty was through the threshold, towing Ronny along behind her. Brady and Allie were not far behind.

Their schools let out in a week and Angel and Buffy had decided to organize a cook out to celebrate the coming commencement of the school year. The expanded family had a lot to celebrate. Angel and Buffy were grandparents for the first time.

Connor and Amelia had married over six years ago but had waited five years until starting their own family. The couple was leading The American Academy of Slayers since three years ago when Faith had decided to retire from the position of Headmaster. Connor had seemed the most natural replacement. Faith had gone to work at Wolfram and Hart after that, along side her still boyfriend, Gunn.

Gunn and Faith had refused to get married, bucking tradition. They lived together and had purchased a house together nine years ago, but refused to give in to the institution of marriage. Faith was content to live with the man she loved, childless; she felt her life was more than full enough. Babysitting a few times for her friends had been enough of a deterrent to having children of her own.

Willow and Cerise were transporting in for the cookout. The couple had been married six years ago, but had, like Gunn and Faith, opted to forgo having children. Cerise had offered to carry a child, but after careful consideration, had decided against it. Willow had laughed at the idea, saying she had enough responsibility without worrying about another life.

Setting the tables, Buffy smiled at her third and last child. Moira Joy was seven and the sweetest of all her children. Kissing Joy on the forehead, Buffy handed her a stack of paper plates.

"Set these out for me, will you baby?"

Buffy sighed contentedly. Brady was twelve and possessed the combined tempers of both his parents. He was quick to anger and more manipulative than she had thought a child was capable of being. He was sweet when he needed to be though, so she wasn't concerned he was going to be the next great super villain.

Ronny was the quietest of the three children; she was constantly being introspective. At only ten, she was exhibiting signs of incredible intelligence. The school had pushed Buffy last year to have her tested for advanced classes. Ronny had passed with flying colors and was taking one of the same classes her brother was. That had been quite a fight, Buffy remembered. It had been resolved after Brady made Ronny promise not to talk to any of his friends. Of course, Allie was in the same class, so that promise had gone unfulfilled. Brady scowled every third period, but Ronny and Allie would sit together and giggle.

Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she smiled at her husband as he started putting steaks on the grill. For a thirty-eight year old woman, she still looked good, she thought. Angel certainly hadn't lost interest in her. After the birth of their third child, they had decided to stop reproducing. There were no regrets in that regard, Buffy barely managed to keep up with three children.

Dawn had decided that one little surprise was enough and had told Will in no uncertain terms that Kitty was to be an only child. So far, the mantra had held but Buffy knew there was still time for Dawn to change her mind. Fred had been unable to have a second child but was content with her daughter. The five children had formed their own Scooby club, though they didn't understand that reference.

Straightening table cloths, she watched as her sister and Will argued about how much to spike the punch for the grown ups. Shaking her head, Buffy grinned to herself. The unlikely pair was still as passionate towards each other as ever.

She had hid her nervousness from Angel well in the past few weeks. It had been years since she had seen Cordelia, even though the seer had eloped with Xander. After relocating permanently to Chicago, Xander had waited a few years before whisking her away to New York City and begging her to marry him. Buffy had cried when Xander had moved from LA, and cried even harder when she heard the news he had married Cordy secretly.

They were bringing their six year old son, Alex, to meet the other children. They had brought Alex to Los Angeles when he was a toddler, but Buffy doubted he would remember anyone. Cordy had changed throughout the years; the choppy black hair was replaced with soft brown waves and her serious countenance had softened with laugh lines. Buffy thought Alex had something to do with that.

"Ready to put the salad together?"

Turning to her Angel, Buffy put her arms around his neck and stood on her tip toes to touch her lips to his.

She smiled up at him. "Dawn will help me."

"I think she's dunking Will in the pool."

Shaking her head, she turned to see that Dawn was indeed threatening to throw Will in the pool if he didn't stop dictating how much rum to put in the punch. After a moment's hesitation, Buffy nodded and pursed her lips. "Okay, I'll have Will help me."

"Bloody hell, woman!" Turning from his wife, he stalked to Angel and Buffy, his hands in his pockets. "She gets nuttier every day. That woman's off her rocker."

Nodding with a sympathetic smile, she started towards the house. "Think of it, Will, another fifty years of wedded bliss."

"If I live that long. And it seems Dawn is determined to make sure I don't."

Laughing, she set the lettuce on the counter and grabbed the potato salad from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

"Start with the greens; I have to finish some other things."

Nodding, he started hacking into the lettuce. "Everyone's coming to this shin-dig, right? No stand ups?"

"Everyone's coming."

Smirking, he threw the smaller pieces of vegetable into a wooden bowl Buffy set in front of him. "How many are going to be here, then?"

"Uh…," stopping what she was doing to count with her fingers, she took a moment to answer. "Fifteen adults and seven kids, if you count Derek as a kid."

He looked a little stunned. "We know that many people?"

Laughing, she nodded. "Intimately. Xander promised they would be here on time. Willow is teleporting herself, Cerise and Giles her in about an hour. Wes and Fred left to pick up more wine; they'll be back in a few minutes. Yup…it's going to be a party."

"And grandpa out there gets to hang with the new addition."

Smiling, Buffy sprinkled paprika over the macaroni and potato salads. "Yeah, Angel's excited. I can't believe Connor had a kid already. Well, I mean, it wasn't sudden or anything, but I am not old enough to be a grandma."

"Best lookin' old bird I've ever seen."

Slapping his arm, she frowned. "I'm not old. I'm young and spry. I could take you down, you now."

Wincing, he put his hand on his back and made a pleading face. "These old bones can't take it, Buffy. Spare a stupid old man."

Shaking her head at his antics, she set the massive bowls of salads onto the kitchen table. Opening her mouth to call outside to the children to have them take the salads outside, she stopped herself at the last minute. She wanted people to eat the salad; she wasn't crazy about the idea of the sidewalk and her son wearing the concoctions.

Turning at the sound of the door opening, she smiled as Fred and Wesley came in bearing paper bags.

"We got everything we could think of. I might have to sleep here, after we crack all of these open." Setting the bags down, Fred glanced around the kitchen. It was apparent that Angel and Buffy had prepared to feed an army. Which was good, there was one assembling.

Wes sighed and slipped a few bottles into the freezer to chill. "I think we cleaned the store out. I wasn't sure what everyone likes, so I got a good variety." He was aware of the tastes of the people he saw on a daily basis, but he wasn't sure what the out-of-towners would prefer to drink, or if they would imbibe at all.

"We got a case of beer, too, just in case." Looking pointedly at Will, Fred stood with her hands on her hips.

Sighing, he wiped his hands on a dish towel and bowed before heading outside to their car. "I live to serve."

Wesley immediately made himself busy with carrying the salads outside and fitting them into their ice lined containers to keep them cool and fresh. Joining Angel at the grill after carrying two bowls, he leaned against the brick wall and smiled.

"This is going to be nice, I think. We haven't all been together like this in…"

"Ever. We've never been all together like this, Wes. I can't believe we were all available this weekend."

Nodding, he watched as Angel flipped a few hamburgers into a foil container sitting on the grill. There would be no shortage of food, Wesley thought. "Yes, Allie wanted to wait until next weekend, after they actually end their school year, but this was the only time we were all free."

"Willow has a conference next Saturday and Xander's flying out to Paris on Wednesday. I don't know when he'll be back."

"Something about disappearances, yes? No connection? You think it's got something to do the supernatural, I take it."

Nodding, Angel moved the steaks around. Buffy had bought him the grill last Christmas, and he had been itching to use the monstrously large contraption. "Well, I asked him to go check it out. I know he's busy with the Chicago Wolfram and Hart branch, but I couldn't think of a better guy for the job."

Xander had brought up the idea of opening a branch of the business in the windy city, and Angel had left everything in the capable hands on the younger man. Xander had chosen a location, and with Cordy, had designed the building and hand chosen the executives. His occupation still took him over seas to other branches to weed out corruption, but he tried to stay with his family as much as possible.

The next half hour passed with little occurrence. The children helped to set the tables while Angel, Wes and Will grilled. To Buffy, it looked like they mostly talked and only grilled a little. She was in too good of a mood to make fun of them for it, though, so she kept her observation to herself. She, Dawn and Fred finished preparing food. When Gunn and Faith arrived, everyone converged outside to await the arrival of the others.

Some of the last to arrive, Connor entered with his new family, all smiles. Connor was greeted with open arms and a lot of hugs. Amelia was kissed by many people, and after Buffy stole the baby away from her, she was hugged as well. Snuggling the four week old infant, Buffy cooed to the baby. It had been a very long time, in her estimation, since she had held such a young baby.

Angel pulled his son into a tight embrace. "It's good to have you here, Connor."

Smiling at his father, Connor looked as though he was beaming. His hair was short and well kept. He was still thin but he had managed to add a few pounds to his slight frame. Slinging his arm around his wife's waist, he breathed easily. It felt good to be with his family.

Amelia had been accepted into the family immediately, though she had been intimidated by the infamous people. Being a slayer, she had heard of all of them, even before entering the Slayer Academy. After graduating and marrying Connor, she had joined him when he took over as Headmaster. It had taken her years, but she was finally comfortable around Buffy. The older slayer was intimidating to all the students, even when she had visited the school pregnant.

Amelia was looking forward to seeing Cordelia and Cerise. The three, since meeting at Brady's first birthday party, had stayed in touch. They had taken an instant liking to each other and Amelia had traveled to Chicago a few times to see Cordy. After Alex had been born, Amelia had been excited at the prospect of having her own child and had traveled to see Cordy just to be around the baby.

Hugging Buffy, Amelia smiled. "Can I help with anything? You must have a million things to finish." Even before she was finished speaking, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned towards the stimulus.

"Brown noser." Faith hugged the younger slayer as Amelia turned towards her smiling. Faith had taken an instant liking to the woman when she had entered the school and had been thrilled when Connor had expressed interest in her. There was no one else Faith could think of that complemented Connor's personality so well.

"Shut up, Faith." Hugging her back fiercely, Amelia immediately launched into a diatribe about the school and new challenges facing them. Faith had to smirk. No one would have it as hard as she had when she first started at the school.

Making their way outside, Derek was handed off to Angel and he abandoned the grill to the others as he rocked his grandson. He was entirely too young, in his opinion, to have a grandson, but the tiny baby boy was precious. Derek reminded Angel of Brady when he had first been born. Both boys had a dark shock of hair on their heads and delicate facial features, like their fair haired mothers.

With a flourish, Willow, Cerise, and Giles appeared in the middle of the crowded gathering. Giles was shaking his head at the blue smoke Willow had thought necessary to add to their arrival.

"Had to make a scene," he said.

Avoiding being tackled by Angel and Buffy's three children, he assured them he had brought presents with him. Giles thought it his duty as the only grandparent to the children to spoil them every chance he got.

Of course, he couldn't neglect Allie and Kitty, who also got presents. Kitty was as much his grandchild as Buffy's children. Allie had endeared herself to the aging gentleman with little problem. Spoiling them rotten was his life's single greatest goal since their births.

With a shy smile, Cordy opened the sliding glass door to the scene of Giles being mobbed with children as he handed them small unwrapped parcels from a backpack. She heard Dawn shriek at their arrival. Her smile immediately spread across her face and shyness evaporated as Alex was beckoned over by Giles. Of course the old watcher wouldn't leave one child out, she thought.

"I am so glad you're here!" Enveloped in a tight hug from Amelia, she was met with a barrage of questions.

Laughing freely with Cerise, Cordy was pleasantly surprised when Faith and Dawn started sharing war stories with her. Her previous nerves about the party slipped away even as Xander left her to catch up with Buffy and Willow.

As the party progressed, there was non stopping laughing, music and food as the evening approached. Moira Joy was most curious about the baby. Allie, Kitty and Ronny each held him once; Brady kept his distance.

"Cake, everyone!" Pulling the full sheet cake from its box, Buffy smiled ear to ear. The cake was larger than she thought it would be, but she was glad for that. There was little likelihood there would be any left.

As everyone gathered around and Buffy started to cut at one end while Dawn started at the other end, congratulations were extended to all the children for surviving elementary or middle school. All their names, including Alex's were listed on the cake. There was even a happy birthday message to Derek on the corner of the white icing.

As Buffy handed the first piece to Kitty, a blinding white light tore through the lawn and hit the group ferociously. Screaming, Kitty dropped the cake and flung herself to the ground.

"What the hell!" Brady was the first to recover.

"Mom?" Allie's voice did not sound like that of a thirteen year old. Looking around the patio, she called out again and received no answer.

"They're gone…" Standing, Alex looked shocked and ready to faint.

Swallowing hard, Ronny licked her chapped lips. "Oh my…" Her breath escaped her as she saw that all of the adults were gone.

Looking at each of the young people left on the patio, Brady started to speak when a wailing starting. Turning around quickly, they all jumped at the sound. Sitting in his carrier, which had been held by Amelia, a previously sleeping Derek was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

Breathing hard, Moira looked around one last time, not wanting to believe that her parents had disappeared in a wave of light. Allie was the first to reach Derek and lift him into her arms. She didn't know a lot about babies, but she had noticed that Amelia had fed him every two hours or so during the party. He hadn't eaten in an hour, and she dreaded having to figure out how to feed him. Amelia had dropped her shirt a little and put him to her breast. Allie doubted they would be able to find another lactating woman willing to feed the infant.

"We have to find help," Ronny finally managed to choke out.

"Good idea," Brady said sarcastically. "Let's call the cops and tell them all the adults disappeared! Right."

"That's enough! We have to find them. Let's….let's go inside and figure this out." Turning to the glass doors, Allie swallowed hard. She hoped this was going to be easier than she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Sniffling a little, Alex hugged the pillow closer to him and tried to tell himself he was dreaming. He knew he wasn't, though. Remembering the stories his mommy and daddy had told him about monsters and fighting for good, Alex rubbed the tears from his eyes. He knew his parents would fight if he had been the one to go missing. He would fight too, he thought.

Across the living room, Allie and Brady were having one of the first fights they had ever had. It had been steadily progressing for a few minutes.

"They're too little! Our parents would kill us if they got hurt!" Allie was standing at one end of the coffee table, her arms crossed across her chest.

"We can't leave them here! They'll be unprotected! They have to come with us." Mimicking Allie's posture, Brady huffed and narrowed his eyes. He couldn't understand why Allie was being so ridiculous.

Shaking her head, Moira stepped in between the two older children. Having realized that Ronny wasn't going to stop the fight, she had figured it was her responsibility to do so.

"We're going with you. I'm not staying here with Alex and a baby. We can help, too."

Before anyone could respond, Kitty came hopping down the stairs with a large black duffle bag dragging behind her. Glad for inheriting her father's strength, she smiled all the way down the staircase.

"I got weapons! Let's find the baddie that stole the grown ups and knock his head off!"

Thrilled at the idea of fighting, she dragged the bag to the middle of the room. She wasn't supposed to know how to get into the glass case in the upstairs study that housed the coolest weapons, but breaking the glass was as easy as opening the door with the key she couldn't find. She had figured breaking the glass was acceptable in the situation.

Nodding, Brady turned towards the downstairs study. His dad used his home office most of the time these days, but Brady remembered when his mom had taken over the office to do her work for Wolfram and Hart. They had been careful to lock the door at all times; both parents had explained that there were dangerous books and weapons in the study. Brady, however, knew where his mom kept her spare key.

Under the plant stand on the patio, he found the small silver key and promptly started towards the home office. He hoped one of the others would be smart enough to go to the library and grab a few spell books for Allie. If they were going to find the demon that stole their parents, they would need magic as well as weapons. Brady figured it was a spell that had caused the adults to disappear.

Opening the door, he swallowed hard. He had heard his parent doing spells in this room, most of the time with Uncle Wesley or Uncle Will. Whenever the world was in crisis, all the adults would gather in this room while the children were ordered upstairs to the play rooms. Brady hated when that happened. He was almost thirteen and he thought it was about time he was included in the monster killing.

When he rejoined the others in the living room, Allie was stuffing a few very large tomes into a backpack and Kitty was helping Ronny shove an ax into another duffle bag. Moira was rocking the baby in his car seat while Alex looked a little shocked at it all.

Plopping into an overstuffed chair, he looked down at his nails. Brady wasn't particularly concerned about any of the adults. He had seen his mom and dad save the world once before and he figured they could take care of themselves wherever they were. He was more concerned about how they were going to find whoever had conducted the spell.

Sitting on the floor with the backpack in her lap, Allie sighed. "So, we have to figure out a way to get to the city. I've been trying to concentrate on where the power is and I've felt it pretty cold so far. I think we need to get downtown; that's where I would go to do a spell like the one that made our parents disappear."

"Yeah, I'll drive us." At the flat looks of his compatriots, Brady rolled his eyes. "Kidding. Geese, guys. We could walk, which would take about a zillion years. Or we could call a taxi and break some piggy banks to get a ride."

Nodding, Allie stood again and went for the phone and phonebook in the kitchen. While Allie was calling for a taxi, Ronny started cracking her knuckles. She was forming a theory but didn't want to say anything until Allie was finished making her phone call.

At the heavy breathing coming from the kitchen doorway, everyone turned to see a stricken looking Allie. "There's no answer. I called three places and there's no answer anywhere."

Nodding, Ronny looked thoughtful. "There are no more grown ups. Why just take our parents? I think the spell took away all the adults."

Standing, Moira left the baby and went to the television. Hesitating, she swallowed hard before turning it on. Ronny was right most of the time, Moira had learned this over the years she had been alive. Dreading the idea that her sister was correct , Moira hoped there would be a live newscast complete with adults on the television.

Every station of news looked as though it was frozen. There were no commercials, no newscasters or announcers. Every station showed the background of a news screen or green screen. It was as if the camera operators and announcers had simply vanished in mid sentence. The other stations were running regularly scheduled programming.

As if on cue, everyone picked up their bags and hoisted them over their shoulders. Moira took baby Derek. Thankful for her strength, she sighed. She knew a normal seven year old would not be able to carry a baby in a car seat for very long. Fighting the urge to sniffle, she wiped her nose with the back of her hand and followed the others out the door.

The walk down the driveway and into the street was long. When they reached the first intersection, everyone stopped, dumb founded. Cars had run off the street and onto the side of the road. The headlights were still on and engines were still running. Some were simply stopped in the middle of the road.

Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Brady forced himself to start moving again. His dad had gotten him at ATV for Christmas despite his mom's protests. Last year, he had gotten a dirt bike. He had driven both bike and quad as though it was a religion. He was fairly confident he could handle driving a car.

"What are you doing?" Ronny sounded appalled as she watched Brady open the door to a car.

"What does it look like? I can reach the peddles and everything. We can't walk downtown, you know."

"You can't steal a car!" Allie had nearly dropped her book bag in exasperation.

"Who's gonna catch me? There are no cops, remember? And I don't see any drivers around. We'll be the only car on the road, so no danger of accidents."

"With you driving?" Moira sounded incredulous. "There won't need to be other cars for you to get us in an accident."

Rolling his eyes, Brady climbed into the front seat. The car rolled forward as he closed the door. It wasn't in park; it had simply rolled to a stop after the driver had disappeared at a red light.

"Well? Get it and stuff." When no one moved, he put it in park and took a deep breath. "I won't go over like…twenty miles an hour. I swear."

Throwing her book bag in the car, Allie gave Brady a withering look. "Your mom will kill us if you get us killed in this thing."

"It can't be that hard," he mumbled.

Allie looked into the back seat. Knowing it was too dangerous to have someone hold Derek in their laps, she strapped his seat in as quickly as possible. Moira and Alex climbed in next to the baby and were immediately instructed to put their seat belts on. Putting Kitty and Ronny in between herself and Brady, Allie put her arms across her chest. The book bag at her feet and the two duffle bags in the back seat made the car even more cramped that it would have been with only seven small people in it.

Universal screams were heard from every child as the car jerked forward. Brady cursed under his breath and was glad no one was around to hear his language. No one that could yell at him, anyway. Pushing the larger peddle to the floorboards, he controlled his shaking hands as he moved the gear shift to drive.

Releasing a shaky breath, he lifted his foot every so slightly from the floor and the car started to roll forward. True to his word, they traveled at under twenty miles per hour. Brady wouldn't admit it, but he was too scared to go any faster.

Knowing it would take hours to get to the city at the speeds they were traveling, Brady took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy, he thought. Or fun. He remembered how many bath room breaks his family had to take when they went on road trips. He swore to himself that the moment one of the little kids said they had to go potty he would scream.

"Stop! Stop!" Pulling at her seatbelt, Allie scrambled from the car. They had traveled a half an hour and everyone had been dosing besides her and Brady.

At Allie's screaming, every inhabitant of the car was awake and screaming. Only ten miles out of the hills, Allie had felt something calling to her soul. The pulling at her being was undeniable.

Starting towards the woods, she swallowed hard. Before she had gotten more than a few feet, a hand was on her arm.

"Where are you going?" Alex's eyes were wide with fear and his voice seemed small even for someone so young.

"I…I can't explain it, Alex. I know I have to go that way, though." Pointing to the trees, she tried to smile reassuringly.

Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on her arm. "No! No, you can't! It's bad in there."

His own inner feelings were starting to tell him that he should run. He had felt as though he was drowning in a thick liquid as soon as they had rounded the corner of the last bend. The tree lined street was pleasant looking, but he felt as though something sinister was lurking just beyond the trees.

"Let go of me! I have to go in there!" Pulling herself from his grasp, she turned to run as another, much stronger hand caught her.

Pulling his friend to the ground, Brady straddled her waist. "What are you doing? Allie, are you nuts? You can't just…"

His voice was silenced as a small log hit him in the back of the head. Not enough to send him into unconsciousness, he was none the less startled and speechless. Before he could react, Allie was up and running. As he stood, Brady heard Alex scream. Slamming his hand into the ground, Brady launched himself into the air and took off running. He was more than twice as fast as Allie, but he had no idea if she could teleport herself yet or not.

Stopping in his tracks, he breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The forest was dark and he had no idea where he was. It could be someone's back yard or an acre of forgotten land that the game commission had set aside to raise deer. He had no clue. And it was dark.

Calling Allie's name, he cursed loudly. Turning on his heels, he cursed again as he had no idea where he had come from or which way to go to run back to the road. His friend had disappeared and there was a thick white mist forming along the ground. Suddenly filled with dread, he turned and started running as fast as he could. Trying to remember everything his dad had taught him about his instincts, he stopped thinking.

A few minutes later, he burst out of the brush and onto his hands on knees on the pavement. His skin was scraped where he had passed branches and now his knees were bleeding. As he breathed heavily, he heard the screams of his sisters as they ran to him.

"What happened? Where's Allie?" Ronny's normal poker face was gone, there was only concern written in her features.

"What happened?" Tugging at her big brother's sleeve, Moira looked into his face with teary eyes.

Shaking his head, he shook them off. "We just lost our witch. That's what happened. Damn it!" Standing, he brushed himself off. He wasn't about to show them how worried he was about Allie. "Okay…" Looking suddenly at Alex, Brady was to him before anyone saw him move. Benefits of super speed, he thought.

Alex looked fearful but no more so than he had a few minuets ago. Brady practically growled at him. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her not to go. It's bad in there. I told her it was bad." Shaking his head as if to force the thoughts from his mind, Alex closed his eyes.

"What do you mean, it's bad? What's bad?"

"There's something bad in there. Something…" Tilting his head to the side, Alex seemed to be lost for a moment before he finally spoke again. "Allie found it. Allie found the bad thing."

Swallowing hard, Brady looked around. The street was darkened, the sun had already set. Only the head lights from the car illuminated the stretch of street. Going for the car, he called the others to follow him.

"You all stay here, okay? I mean it. I have to go get Allie." Lifting one of the duffle bags over his shoulder, he scowled at all of the children. "Lock the doors and don't talk to strangers."

At that, he closed the car door and watched them lock all the doors before turning on his heels and starting into the darkened trees. He was going to kill the bad thing and get his friend back, he thought. And then they would figure out who stole the grown ups and get them back too. Sighing, he hoped he lived long enough to do all that.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I apologize for the incredible long wait for this chapter. I have been working on other projects, but I will finish this story this month. This will be, I think, the last in this series. Thank you to all those who have read and reviewed this story and who have read the series in which it belongs. I cannot thank everyone enough for their positive feedback and constructive criticism. Please read and enjoy this second to last chapter of the final story of this series!

Chapter 3

Rocking back and forth as much as he could, Alex swallowed hard. Looking up for a moment, he saw Kitty staring at him. Fighting the urge to cry, he took a deep breath.

"You know what's going on, don't you?" Kitty looked about ready to start throwing punches, which made Alex more than a little nervous.

"I know what I feel, that's all. Mommy says I can see like she can sometimes."

Wiping his eyes, he tried to block out the feelings that threatening to overwhelm him. His young mind could not understand what he was feeling. Allie was in big trouble, Brady was walking right into it as well and something was spurring him to act. Fear held him in the car, however, and instead of listening to his senses, he grabbed on tight to the seatbelt and swore to himself he wouldn't move.

Many yards away, Brady was ready to throw punches. Honing his ears to any sound that wasn't native to the forest, he crept along at a steady pace. Allie was in the trees somewhere, confronting something that had made Alex turn to jelly. Something had to be done.

Taking a deep breath, his breath hitched in his chest as something caught the corner of his eye. Turning his entire body, his jaw dropped. A steady blue light he thought couldn't be natural was shining fifty or so yards away.

Setting his jaw tightly, he started towards it at a slightly greater speed. Holding his breath for a moment, he crouched behind a fallen tree about ten yards from the light. Squinting, he could just make out the form of a small girl he knew had to be Allie. She was sitting on the ground, directly in front of the light. Her face was obscured, but he thought she didn't look scared.

The power gave her a feeling like she had never experienced before. Coursing through her veins was a warmth and comfort the likes of which she had never felt. She felt, in many ways, that she was home. It was as though she had been searching all her life for what was in front of her at that moment.

The sound of leaves rustling behind her made her smile. She had known he would come. Before either child had a chance to say anything, a heavy log lifted itself from the ground and flew directly towards Brady's head.

Ducking at the last possible second, he rolled away and came up hard. Wincing, he lunged into the air, trying to close the ten foot gap between him and Allie.

Every step was a battle he seemed to barely win. Flying debris occluded his way and it seemed to him she was trying to do real damage to him. These were no warning blows, he thought as a tree sailed past him.

Leaping into the air, he used a flying tree as a stepping stone and pushed off as hard as he could. Landing a few inches from her, he reached out and grabbed her throat before she could try to kill him with any more foliage.

"Listen to me!" Brady screamed.

Her response was a guttural growl from deep in her throat that scared him for a moment into total inaction. The result was that his grip loosened just enough for her to send him flying into the nearest tree.

Hitting the scratchy bark with a loud thud, he groaned and fought the urge to curl up and wish everything away. He had to fight, he told himself. His dad would want him to, he realized. With that thought, he started towards her again.

The fight was harder because now both opponents knew what the other was capable of. Allie was fighting with all she was worth and Brady knew she was trying to go for the kill. Fighting through the torrent of speeding debris, the sharp edge of a stone he wasn't quick enough to evade caught his cheek.

Crying out, he dropped to the ground for a moment and held his now bleeding cheek. He was only a kid, he suddenly thought, and the idea that he was supposed to save his parents, and possibly the parents of every other kid in the city, was extraordinarily overwhelming.

Desperately trying to control his breathing, he looked up into the maelstrom and his jaw dropped at the site in front of him. The blinding blue light had a form, he saw, now that he was close enough to it.

The glow around the center of the light gave the impression there was no form at all, but now Brady could see there was a definite human shape to the center of the light, the bluest part of it. Human shapes meant things that could be killed.

Smiling suddenly, he changed tactics. Allie's clouded mind did not register that Brady was suddenly moving in a different direction altogether. Sending every movable abject his way, she realized with devastation what he was about to do and that she was too late to stop him.

Sending his entire body into the air, he used every ounce of strength he had to punch through the light surrounding the being in the middle of the glow. To his surprise, the light was solid and gelatinous, almost like half hardened jello, he thought.

As one fist penetrated the disgusting substance, his head whipped to the side to avoid a speeding stone. Allie was advancing towards him and he knew with all his being if he didn't get through the barrier between him and his prey that he would surely die.

He was too young to die, he told himself. And with that thought and a primal scream too hoarse and determined for anyone so young to create, he tore through the jelly like padding. Once there was a hole large enough for his arm, he reached through until his body was plastered against the outside of the ball of light.

A scrap of material was beneath his fingers and three beings screamed as Brady ripped the person belonging to the material towards the outside world.

Allie wailed at the top of her lungs and collapsed to the ground in obvious agony. The power and euphoria coursing through her veins seemed to drain through her fingertips and out into the world once again. Pain ripped through her very blood as pleasure so great it had made her drunk turned to pain so acute she could not do anything but scream.

Brady's jaw was against his chest as his hands shook. Watching his best friend writhe in such agony seemed to turn his steeled will to the sadness and fear of a young child. He wanted to crawl into his mother's lap and weep for the pain he was witnessing. He wanted a hug and his warm, soft bed. Swallowing hard, he tried to force himself to close his eyes or look away and managed neither.

When Allie's throat was too hoarse to scream, her mouth stayed locked in an open position as she suffered in silence. It was as if he someone had pressed a cosmic mute button and her screams could not be heard even though she was forming them. Her fingers raked at her skin as she tried to tear the torturous burning material from inside of her.

When Allie was reduced to nothing but sobs and the worst of the pain had passed through her, Brady finally looked down at his shaking fist and the being he held there.

A girl only a few years older than him was crying softly as she hung limply in his grasp. Though she looked older, she wasn't much taller than him, he thought. Her mousy brown hair covered her features and a plain t-shirt and jeans hung on her thin frame.

Dropping the retched teenager to the ground, Brady approached Allie slowly, with caution. Swallowing hard, he heard his own labored breath through his parted lips.

"Allie," he said slowly, "are you there?"

She couldn't move or speak, but he could see the recognition in her eyes. Sitting on the ground next to her, he gathered her closer to him and sat with her in silence. The forest around him looked as though a bomb had been dropped. Trees were uprooted and misplaced; boulders had been torn from deep within the ground and dropped haphazardly throughout the clearing.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he wished with all his heart and soul for his parents. He couldn't carry Allie out and make sure the person behind him didn't escape at the same time, though, and he knew it. Sitting in the forest and staring at the darkened sky, he hoped someone would go searching for him soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The world came back to her in a rush of air. Gasping for air even though she hadn't been aware of needing it, Buffy struggled to her feet. The first thing she noticed was that everyone was reacting to whatever had happened in the same manner she was. The next thing she noticed was the total lack of children.

Panic spread quickly through her veins and she tore away from the patio and into the house, screaming their names at the top of her lungs. A sob break through her chest and out of throat when no one answered her calls.

Strong arms gripped her sobbing form. Angel tried to shush her and console her but she shrugged him off as quickly as she could and made a bee line to Willow.

"Find my children!" Her friend squeaked as a clearly overwrought slayer gripped her and pulled her to her feet.

Willow was still catching her breath and shook her head to clear the mist within it. It was then she realized what Buffy was talking about. Swallowing hard, she looked from face to face to see the spreading panic and outrage.

"O-Okay," she stammered. "Are all of them, I mean…okay. Let's slow down." She didn't know what to think at the moment and was having trouble forcing her thoughts into a linear line.

Buffy actually shook her a little before she spoke. "Willow! Find my children now." Each word was punctuated with firm tone and clenched teeth.

Wesley actually groaned as his vision cleared and he saw what was happening in front of him. Everything, he thought, he had ever done wrong was coming back to him in spades. Part of him had always believed the universe would never let him keep Allie and he had dreaded this coming day for a long time. Something inside himself had always been prepared for the day when she would ripped away from him and he would be punished for playing God.

Will had the same thought, apparently. He had grabbed Wesley and practically thrown into the nearest wall. "What the hell happened?" He demanded. "Where is my little girl?"

Wesley could only stammer in response.

Connor's speed kept Will's fist from Wesley's face and suddenly the multiple arguments that were taking place stopped as Giles cleared his throat.

"All right. Willow, do a locator spell. Will and Angel, we need to know if anyone else was effected by this. Was it a specific attack against us or…something else." He was at a total loss for what had happened.

"A bright light," Cordelia whispered. "It came and took us all away. Not the children, though. Wherever we were, I couldn't sense Alex there."

Faith had finished dry heaving and was recovering from the fuzzy feeling in her head as Cordelia spoke. "You sensed it? I thought it was the carnival ride from hell and then we were right back here."

"No," Cordy shook her head. "We were on another plane. I felt it."

Nodding, Giles took his glasses off and started to polish them. "Right then. We know a spell was cast to pull us from this plane, but for what purpose?" The calm he was exuding did not reflect the turmoil racing through his veins and settling heavy in his gut but he hoped the outwards appearance of calm would be contagious.

Angel burst back onto the patio from the living room. "It's all over the news. All of Los Angeles experienced the same thing. Bright light, disorientation. It all happened at the same time."

"And the children were returned? Along with the adults?" Amelia had to hold onto Connor for dear life to keep from shaking as she spoke.

"They didn't mention demographics…" Angel trailed off as Will returned from the house.

The look on his face was grim. "The weapons are gone and all the good spell books. And by good, I mean most powerful."

"Allie," Fred whispered. "They must have…they took them. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Suddenly Willow gasped and all eyes were on her. Her fingers had been touching her forehead and all her concentration had been on finding the children but something powerful had been blocking her. A sudden snap in the barriers had sent her tumbling through into a very messy mind and a jumble of confused thoughts and feelings. Putting her own barriers back into place, she pulled her fingers from her head.

"I've got them."

With those words, all fourteen adults were flowing outside and into waiting cars and SUVs. Willow lead the pack through the winding streets, which were still pandemonium filled. She had been unable to get a lock on them strong enough the teleport them and it was made more difficult by them not all being clustered together. Something had split them into two groups and it made getting through the think mental mist even harder.

Buffy and Fred were tearing from the vehicles before they had even stopped. Amelia, Dawn and Cordy were not far behind. They reached the parked car at the same time and a tumble of arms and legs and screeching voices reached them as a mass of children flung themselves into waiting arms. The other adults were not far behind and they listened to tearful and jumbled explanations.

Angel had counted his children and immediately took off into the woods. They felt wrong somehow, as if every step he took further into the darkened forest sent his senses a little more off-kilter. He could smell his son, though, and he wanted nothing more to have all his children back together again.

The sounds of crying ahead of him reached him as the sounds of rushing feet behind him. Bursting into a clearance, he spotted his son and immediately had him in his arms.

Brady was cradling Allie and crying and Angel held both of them and shushed them with nonsense and comforting sounds. Wesley and Fred were by his side a moment later, out of breath and reaching for their daughter.

Fred sobbed and held Allie's unmoving form to her. Angel glanced at the girl and winced. Her breathing was painfully slow. Will and he had spoken briefly, on a few occasions, of the repercussions of Wesley's actions concerning his daughter's creation and both had agreed that the other shoe had yet to drop. He hoped with all his heart they had been wrong.

Brady was gesturing frantically to another girl lying a few feet away but just looking at her made Angel's skin crawl. It was like he wanted to rip his eyes from his sockets and claw his skin off at the same time, and he looked away quickly, suppressing a shiver.

Willow gasped and nearly fell when she reached the clearing. These woods were not natural and the oppressive feeling was worse the deeper into them she went. When she saw the girl lying on her own, she suddenly lurched forward, caught neatly by Faith.

A gurgle of pain escaped her but she forced herself to continue forward until she was a few steps away. Kneeling down, she fought a wave of nausea and the urge to rip the hair from her own head.

"I'm hear to help." The words sounded forced and foreign and her voice rough and raw even though she hadn't been screaming or crying.

The girl turned her head in the most eerie way Willow had ever seen and then practically snarled. "You can't help me. You're just like the others."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Licking her suddenly dry lips and fighting to keep her composure, Willow inched closer, ignoring the pain in caused. It felt like she was being flayed alive.

"I can help," she repeated.

The girls' eyes were nearly black and Willow felt herself react on pure instinct. Immediately, a bubble of think white fluid encased the young witch. Willow could feel power, immeasurable power, trying to force its way past the barriers, but Willow had the upper hand in experience and, as gently as possible, denied the young girl the release she sought.

Taking a steadying breath, Willow refused to flinch at the sudden feeling of having her eyes melt. "What are you trying to do?"

The girl struggled more. "I just want you all to go away!"

"You sent all the people to another plane of existence?" The last part was forced out through clenched teeth.

The girl screamed and Willow saw Wesley and Fred collapse, holding the ears. Angel seemed to curl up on himself and bring Brady closer to him. Brady, however, seemed startled and scared but not in pain. Willow filed that away for later use.

"Silence." The girl's mouth shut with a yelp and she looked startled. Willow managed a tiny grin through the incredible pain lancing through her. "You're not the only witch in town," she said. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped suddenly and decided on a different approach. "What's your name?"

There was silence for a moment and Willow saw Faith now, crawling towards her, hardened determination in her eyes. Willow knew she had to end this now, before Faith was forced to act.

"Kiara," the girl finally whispered.

Willow smiled, grateful for small miracles. "Okay Kiara. Can you stop causing such pain to everyone? Can you control your powers?"

The gentle question snapped Kiara's resrved patience and she started to struggle anew. "Of course I control it! I want you dead!"

Willow gasped as hot pain tore through her abdomen. "Why?" She ground out, "Why do you want us dead?"

"I hate you!" Was the snarled response.

"Why do you hate us?" Willow chanced a look around her. Faith was close to her and had her intentions written all over her face. Wesley and Fred weren't moving and had blood running from the ears and nose and Allie didn't look like she was breathing. Brady still looked unaffected and suddenly Willow's mind shot forth a conclusion.

"You only took the adults. You don't want to hurt the children,"

A roar was her only response.

"What did adults do to you? Who hurt you?" It took everything Willow had to dampen Kiara's powers enough to keep the younger witch from killing those around her.

A strangled sob met Willow's ears and she winced at the words that followed. "They died! They look at me and they die!"

Reaching out mentally, Willow tried to see the other's mind and collapsed forward for her effort. Pain and humiliation and devastation washed over her and she wept uncontrollably.

Kiara seemed similarly effected by Willow's mental probing and screamed and writhed on the forest floor. Slowly, the trees started to shimmer and sway and the area around them changed to that of a backyard of an ordinary house.

Faith had stopped crawling and now just started at the dilapidated building which had once been quite fine and proud. She retched suddenly as the feeling of hot pokers entering her side overcame her. Her only job was to get this girl and be prepared to snap her neck if Willow couldn't quell her.

Willow screamed and reached out and suddenly everything was still. Sobbing, she pulled herself up and looked at the broken little girl in front of her. Wiping her eyes fruitlessly, she pulled herself up and stumbled towards the Wyndam-Price family.

Kneeling down, she took Allie in her arms and started to meditate over her. Angel was already pulling Brady with him towards Wesley and Fred and Faith was regaining her equilibrium.

Buffy came through the back yard first, having recovered quickest from what felt like her insides being twisted. She could tell the devastation had been worse here just from looking at everyone. Willow was cradling Allie and chanting and she decided to leave her be. Tucking Angel and Brady to her side, she sighed into her husband's hair.

Angel's eyes were screwed tight, the waves of nausea had subsided but the lingering effects were truly awful and he didn't want to scare Brady any more than he already was.

"Will Allie be all right?"

Buffy looked down at her son and stroked his hair. "The others said you were very brave." Not knowing how to answer his question, she simply side stepped around it.

He nodded. "I drove a car," his suddenly small voice said.

She could only smile. "I know. That's the last time until you're sixteen, though, got it? Unless the world's in danger, again, and then…well, you'll figure it out."

The forced lightness of her tone had the effect she was hoping it would and Brady disentangled himself from his father and climbed into her lap. She kissed his forehead and held him and prayed for Allie.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

They had hauled themselves into the vehicles and gotten back home as quickly as possible. Willow was shuttered away with Allie in a guest room, Wesley and Fred wearily sitting on the floor in front of the door. Will had forced aspirin and water down their throats and left them to their vigil.

The broken story had come from Willow in pieces about a girl born with gifts who didn't know how to control them. Her parents had mutilated and tortured themselves to death from her physic barrage of pain and she had lived in a house with the corpses for years. Her plan had been, from Willow could tell, to remove anyone form existence that might react to her like her parents had. Mainly, all adults.

Her warped thinking had led her to believe that she would have friends and normal life if only adults weren't so scared of her. They wouldn't be around to keep the other children from her.

Angel and made a few phone calls and found out that the girl's preschool and kindergarten teachers had killed themselves before her parents had. There was a long trail of devastation left in the girl's wake.

Angel sighed and leaned back against the couch cushions. He and Buffy had calmed their children enough for them to pass out; it was well past the bed times anyway. The food had been long forgotten and everyone was simply too tired to move.

Cordy and Xander were asleep in the library with Alex between them. They had made a nest out of pillows and cushions and Alex had built a tent with a sheet and two chairs and they called it camping. The boy had reluctant to sleep upstairs where the other children were, clearly still scared of them and what had happened.

Connor and Amelia had fled for their own home. It had taken all of Amelia's strength to put Derek down long enough for them to drive home with him in his car seat. Faith and Gunn had stuck around, they said, in case Giles couldn't handle the child-witch.

Groaning, Angel stood and wandered outside to find Giles kneeling next to the unconscious girl. Willows' spells and tranquilizers had combined to keep her unconscious as Giles chanted, channeling the energy of the coven in England.

After watching a few moments, he shook his head and went to find his wife. He nearly bowled her over when he found her standing right behind him. Kissing her deeply, he pulled her to him with a fierce protectiveness.

"Sorry," he said quietly in her ear. "I know you wanted this to be perfect."

She shrugged. "Our kids are safe. The world's safe. Again."

He thought her rueful smile was a clever cover-up. "They're safe," he repeated.

"We're going to have to do something about our twelve year old driving, though. You know you have to talk to him."

"We'll talk to all of them. They were terrified and did the only thing they could."

"Tiny versions of us. I though the 'Scooby' nickname was cute…but boy, did they live up to it."

He hugged her even tighter. "We'll keep them safe."

Squeezing her eyes tight, she tried to block all thoughts of her children in danger. Some day they would face something she wouldn't be able to save them from and the thought was terrifying. It was such a great responsibly to be raising the next generation of super heroes.

They turned when they heard Willow clear her throat. Dawn and Will were waiting for them in the living room, they saw, and hastened to join them.

"Allie will live," Willow said. "But she's trapped in her mind right now. She encountered a power she could never hope to combat and it nearly destroyed her." Sighing, she collapsed into a chair. "I need to work with her more, so I'll need to stay with her. For however long it takes."

Dawn sighed. Kitty was asleep in an overstuffed chair in the corner and she eyed her daughter with a lump in her throat. She could not imagine what Fred and Wes were going through.

"I think she'll come out of it, it will just take time and coaxing."

"And Kiara?" Angel asked.

Willow visibly winced. "There is so much physic damage I'm not sure we can hope for more than a life spent drugged to the gills and living in a padded room."

Buffy wanted to weep but contained herself. There would be a time to grieve for a lost little girl later. "Just help Allie as best you can. I know Cerise already went back to France but we'll help her with resources, if she needs them, with the Academy and all."

Willow nodded and stood again. "I have to pry Fred away from Allie. All the pain coming off her in waves won't do any good." With that, she started up the stairs again.

"It can never be easy, can it?" Dawn asked.

The four of them just stared at each other before slowly collapsing into boneless piles on the furniture. A few moans and sighs were heard before peaceful sleep overtook them all.


End file.
